


A Marriage Of Understanding

by supreme_coffee_queen



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Angst, Arranged Marriage, BAMF Tim Drake, Cameos, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne is Not Robin, Double Life, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Family Shenanigans, Indian Character, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug is Called MDC, Marriage, Matchmaking, Motorcycles, Multi, Problems, Relationship Problems, Romance, Weddings, rich people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28479132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supreme_coffee_queen/pseuds/supreme_coffee_queen
Summary: Rich, attractive, young and eligible: Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Damian Wayne.What happens when the two are brought together by their families in an arranged marriage, set by matchmakers?Will they be able to face the problems life throws their way? First meetings, secret identities misunderstanding and a lot more. Will they be able to have a marriage of understanding?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alix Kubdel, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Classmates, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Plagg & Tikki, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Parents, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Alix Kubdel, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Classmates, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Parents, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Original Character(s), Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Robin (DCU), Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 33
Kudos: 179





	1. A Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome, I hope you enjoy this fic.
> 
> If any details and explanations are required, you can find them in the notes at the end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets invited.

Retrieving Kaalki from the Miraculous Box, Marinette prepared herself for the monthly Worldwide Hero Meeting (WHM) being held in Metropolis this month.

“Tikki, Kaalk-” she felt footsteps. Someone was nearby her. She had almost slid into an alley when:

“Woah Ladybug! It’s me, with your coffee.” Chat Noir was standing there with a coffee cup in hand.

“Ohmygod Chat I thought someone else was here.” She relaxed her stance. The heavenly smell of coffee made her mouth water. She took the coffee cup from him and began to chug it.

“Woah slow down, you don’t wanna choke.” Chat tried to get her to slow down. “Also are you sure you don't need another cup? It’s like 3 in the night and of all the people I know you like to sleep the most.”

Ladybug needed to be at the meeting at 7:30 pm in Metropolis time, so she was leaving fifteen minutes early which was 2:15 am in Paris.

“Yeah I’m sure, I had some before I left for patrol.” she handed him the empty cup. “Anyway you make one last sweep of the city since you are up and about. I’ll get going.”

“Cool, see you later Bug.”

“See you later Chat. Alright Tikki, Kaalki Unify!”

-

And a voyage later she was in Metropolis: the city of Superman. The sunny happy and upbeat city was now calm in the darkness of the night. Unmerging the kwami, she made her way to the WHM venue running across rooftops.

Her pigtails blew in the night air, making her ribbons flutter, as she jumped from roof to roof, so she could reach in time. She mentally went through the meeting agendas and the monthly report she and Chat made. Last month, Chat had been to Johannesburg for the previous WHM.

She noticed another hero making their way to the meeting venue. Someone from Gotham, representing the Bats she guessed. Most of them had this gloomy Gotham air to them. She racked her brain for all the names of the Bats, there were so many it was especially difficult to identify them because they always hid in the shadows. Obviously the vigilante was not Batman, or Robin, Robin was the sidekick and also he was way younger so it can’t be him either; Nightwing did not look like that.

What irked her though, was that the hero had not noticed her presence yet, she was running toward the same direction mere rooftops away, he must be extremely distracted… Red Hood had a very memorable uniform other than that cursed helmet which had the lips and nose, not Red Robin he had brought back those wing things plus he was Ladybug’s friend… A special one; he would surely have said hi; it was not Batgirl, Blackbat or Batwoman because the vigilante was obviously not a woman.

Said vigilante had also just missed a step and was about to fall dangerously onto the ground below. She quickly sent across her yoyo to catch him before he broke a bone or two and released him on the ground gently and continued on her way, she was already a bit late.

He did seem to be a bit disoriented though, she was right.

Perhaps he was the hero Griffin? While she hadn’t met or seen him very well, she still had a theory he was the Robin that wielded katanas, he had to go somewhere right? Griffin had katanas. His uniform was black and vermillion or something similar to red. It was really dark, she couldn’t make it out properly. A good combination nevertheless, red and black is the best! She couldn’t see much of the suit anyway because well, it was dark and the Bats were infamous for sticking to the darkest places possible.

-

The meeting had gone without a hitch, nothing too concerning had happened, apart from a few minor natural calamities, which had been handled by the local heroes very well. A few hero commendations happened, like the one she and Chat received for defeating Hawkmoth back in the day. Their award was on display along with the awards they received from the government of France and other organisations in the HQ. She was back just in time for breakfast but instead, she took a nap.

She had to go to the Dupain-Cheng household for lunch and if they saw their daughter tired and sleepy, they might make the wrong conclusions and think she was working herself to death.

After a good three hour nap, she bathed, got dressed and had a banana, because she hadn’t eaten anything yet. After making sure Tikki was well rested, had eaten and that she had enough cookies to last her kwami for the rest of the day, she set out to her parent’s house.

After Jagged Stone’s blatant promotions, the bakery sort of became a holy spot for all the Jagged fans from across the globe; but as soon as they had a taste of their goods, they became fans of Tom and Sabine. Which is how Tom and Sabine bakery became big and had about fifty branches across Europe. And while they loved their first home, they decided to move to a bigger one, or a mansion to be accurate.

Marinette parked her car in the private parking of the mansion and walked to the gate, while looking over to her parent’s well maintained garden.

-

“How was your day sweetheart?”

“Yeah it was good, I caught up with my sleep, did some meditation, before having a nice breakfast. Oh and I have news!” she needed to divert the topic before she had to lie even more to protect her secret identity, but she did have news. “You surely remember my friend from design school? Divya Maheshwari? The one who owns Khushbu?”  
  


Her father nodded. “We got it in the mail, the day before yesterday.” He gestured to the coffee table which a very fancy gift hamper had occupied.

Oh well. Now she knew why Divya asked her to wait until this week to tell them the news.

“I got the news last month, when everything was finalised. But she asked me to not tell you till this week, so I decided to tell you over lunch today.” She walked over to the hamper and retrieved the card inside.

“So you both are coming with me to Udaipur for her wedding, which is on 17th January, so in a fortnight, we leave.”

Sabine took the card from her hands, “I always wanted to see an Indian wedding!”

Marinette smiled, she was happy for her friend, whom she met in design school in London. Despite being the daughter of an extremely rich man, she was humble and hardworking, which was a surprise for Marinette due to her prior experiences with a rich business man’s daughter. Divya was friendly and warm, she did not put on an amicable facade and hate behind her back as the others did which is why the two were great friends and roommates. The years they spent in the academy were memorable, be it guzzling energy drinks to finish assignments, crying happy tears while looking at finished projects, helping each other in their work by giving critique or simply goofing around.

“Marinette, come help set up the table, we’re having a guest for lunch.”

Wait what? She went to the kitchen, racking her brain for any memory of her mother telling her who was coming over, she passed the cutlery to her mother finally asking: “Who, Maman?”

Her parents exchanged glances. Which meant this was something she wouldn't like.

“Sweetheart, let's talk while we sit?” Tom asked as he placed the final plate on the table.

Sandwiched between her parents on the sofa, Marinette prepared herself for the worst. “Marinette, your aunties love you very much, as you know,” Sabine held her hand “And because they love you, they also show concern for you.” Marinette was absolutely clueless as to where this was heading. “So they sent a matchmaker over, to find someone for you.”

“Maman! But why? Wha- When?” Marinette sprang up from her seat “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” She was pacing now “An arranged marriage? She is going to decide my life? And I don’t even want to marry right now. Papa! Tell her!”

Her father looked at her with a soft expression. “Marinette, we thought over it and-”

“But Papa! You cannot just decide my life without me!”

“Marinette- sweetheart, hear me out, okay?”

“Fine.” she pouted, like she used to, when she was a child, as she sat back down.

“Marinette, you are our baby, you always will be,” Tom took her hand in his. “And we have only ever wanted the best for you.” Sabine took the other. “And darling, your aunties have been behind us to get you to marry since many years. It is their form of showing that they care about you. We wanted to give you space and time to see and choose whom you want to spend your life with, and you tried but couldn't find someone for you. So now that you have turned twenty eight, and your aunties have been more adamant than ever, your mother and I talked about it and decided that you should try meeting the person their matchmaker chooses for you. We aren’t forcing you baby, we are not even deciding for you! You have to choose, and if you see him, talk to him and don’t like him then no one will force you to marry him. We’re only asking you to try it. Marinette, sweetheart, we will never force you or decide for you ever. Alright?”

She looked into her parents’ eyes, and only saw love and care. She smiled.

“Alright.”

-

Surprisingly for Marinette, the matchmaker was very polite and nice to talk to. Not at all intrusive or judging and listened to what she envisioned her future as, so that she could pick out a match for her.

“... and so because of my job, I will not move out of Paris, no matter what.”

“That’s good Marinette, I have seen the advertisements for your brand, and all the clothes have been extremely beautiful. I wish you and your company to stay in success forever.” She spoke with a smile.

“Thank you very much Mrs Wu.”

“So, about the boy…” Sabine prompted.

“Ah yes, I had come here with one boy in mind, whom the Cheng ladies also deemed as a worthy suitor, and after Marinette spoke to me, I am even more confident in the choice.”

The three held their breaths as Mrs Wu retrieved a picture and biodata from her file.

“For Marinette, the ideal partner would be” she set down the folder in front of the parents “Damian Wayne”.

“Damian Wayne.” parroted Marinette. Damian Wayne was the youngest and only bloodson of Bruce Wayne, the richest man on Earth, but that’s alright. Marinette wasn’t any low profile girl either, she was one of the big three fashion designers right now and the biggest in France. She had entered the industry with a bang after Gabriel left a gaping hole in the fashion scene in Paris, after it collapsed due to the owner’s terrorist and illegal activities. She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, MDC. But wait,

“Why Damian Wayne?”

The matchmaker smiled “I chose Damian Wayne as the ideal partner for you because of many reasons due to which I believe you both will be compatible. He turned twenty eight a few months before you did, so you both are of the same age. He is also like you, of mixed heritage. He comes from a good family like yours, from the same kind of social circles and runs the Wayne Enterprises International Division due to which you will not have to go out of Paris, as there is a big WE. International office in Paris.” Mrs Wu explained.

“I see.”

“You will be meeting him and his family in the second week of January.”

“But we’re gonna be in India for my friend’s wedding at that time.”

“Yes, the Waynes are also invited.”

“Oh.”

-

She had read the biodata, found nothing wrong with it, except that the name of his mother was nowhere to be found, but that was alright, for now. She saw his hobbies, his education, work and everything there was to see in it.

She stood in her balcony, hours after dinner which she also had in the Dupain-Cheng house after Mrs Wu left. How they can know the guest list of a wedding, all their connections and all was a bit confusing for Marinette. So here she was, his picture in her hand. Giving a picture in today’s time was a bit unnecessary but convenient.

“Damian Wayne.” She held the picture up. He was a handsome man, tan skin, black hair and green eyes, dressed sharp. His expression was… 

“He looks like he is grumpy as fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the matchmakers (if you do not know) focus on old people stuff and I am trying to show that by their characters. I mean no offence to anyone by whatever they say or any characteristics they give regarding Damian or Marinette now and further in the story.


	2. A Deadly Combination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian discovers that matchmakers and aunts are a deadly combination.

Damian Wayne, dressed impeccably in a Gucci suit , stood in the foyer as he headed to work. The family butler, Alfred Pennyworth looked him up and down for anything askew in his appearance. Finding none, he proceeded to iron his collar once over and lint rolled his clothes. Alfred the Cat got hair everywhere.

“We will be having guests for dinner tonight, Master Damian.” The butler said, rolling the sticky wand on his left shoulder.

Damian hummed in response, guests at Wayne Manor were common.

“It will be your Great Aunts Agatha and Millie.”

“I see.” Two nuisances to deal with, then.

“And they will bring along a matchmaker.”

He gave a small huff of laughter. “Are they planning to get Drake married?”

“No Master Damian, I’m afraid the matchmaker is for you.”

“…” He blinked. “Nice joke Alfred.” He was fervently hoping Alfred would confirm what he said.

“I am completely serious, Master Damian. Your great aunts wish for you to marry.”

“And father said nothing,” he scoffed. Father would never say yes to such an atrocious suggestion. Of course not. “I will not fall for it, Alfred.”

“Master Bruce agreed with his aunts and he himself invited them for dinner tonight.”

“Wha-” He spluttered. This was betrayal, how dare he? “Alfred!-”

“It is time for you to leave for work Master Damian, you surely do not want to get late.” The butler finished up his tidying. “I will see you at dinner. Have a good day.”

-

Damian entered the mansion grounds at 6 pm in the black Rolls Royce Phantom he had received for his sixteenth birthday. And as soon as he stepped inside the manor, Alfred was by his side again.

“Master Damian, the guests shall arrive by eight. I suppose you will be ready in the drawing room by then to receive our guests.”

“I am not meeting the matchmaker.” Damian said the last word with disgust.

“Master Damian, you will meet your great aunts and any other guest they bring along, as your father’s son. Whether you like it, or not.”

He did not say anything in retaliation because he knew to argue any further would be a moot point.

So, he went to his room, had a shower went through the file he had prepared for the WHM he had to attend the next day, and by time the clock struck 8, he was walking down the stairs to greet his great aunts.

“Oh Damian darling!”

He sighed internally. It has begun.

“Look at you! How much you’ve grown! Oh my little boy is a big man now!”

He put up one of his charming smiles on his face. “Lovely to see you Aunt Agatha,” he hugged his aunts, “Aunt Millie.” 

What all he has to do for the sake of his family; as a child, him being ‘insolent’ was tolerated but now he was responsible for everything, relationship with relatives, him as a public figure it had become natural by time; he didn’t mind leaving behind his arrogant ways that the League instilled in him; not at all, but sometimes it was such a pain.

“How have you both been?” he expertly started a conversation when they all sat down. It was only a matter of time when they began talking of his ‘marriage’ and then when his father arrived he could finally know what was actually going on. There has to be an underlying motive for his father to agree to such a preposterous thing.

“Oh I have been greatly vexed, my dear. So has Agatha,” his great aunt Millie Wayne said, with an extremely troubled expression. “You're a handsome twenty eight year old eligible bachelor!” she said as if it explained everything.

  
“So I am.” If he was going to go through all of this idiocracy, he was not going to make it easy for them either.

“So you are? Damian! You ought to find a good eligible girl for yourself! Settle down! Start a family!”

He could hear his father’s footsteps on the stairs. He almost smirked. This had begun to be fun.

“But Father hasn’t married.”

“Oh Bruce? Bruce is an idiot, we went soft on him and let him get away with all his tomfoolery. You will be better than him, young man wouldn’t you? Once you get settled down, we can breathe easy. If not the father at least the son will have a sane life.” his Aunt Agatha finished her speech.

“So this is not a sane life?”

“Bruce! There you are. Where are your manners? Keeping your aunts in waiting for such a long time? And when you arrive you greet us with such a smart-arsed reply?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Aunt Agatha, Aunt Millie.” He hugged them both. “I hope you are doing well?”

  
“Well? Absolutely not! Your son might be following in your footsteps and we shall not allow it!” Aunt Millie shook her head as she continued. “Never. You decided to become a ‘playboy’ and then you-” she went on with her vehement discourse, ignoring the hand Agatha, who knew where this was heading, put on her arm. “-adopted a bundle of worthless children that aren’t your blood. Then when you finally decided to marry,” she brushed the hand Agatha was urgently tapping her with aside. “She left you at the altar. And here is your bloodson suffering the same fate as yours and will end up living a life of bachelorhood, squandering his time away with harlots. I shall not allow it.” She finished, to the horror of Agatha.

Bruce smiled with an anguished look in his eyes. He spoke with an honesty that surprised Damian, “I agree with you, Damian should settle down.” For the bitterness of these words Bruce uttered was apparent in his tone.

After a very awkward minute, Alfred called for dinner and Damian mentally asked whatever gods that existed to bless the man. However the fact that Millie Wayne’s eyes showed no regret made Damian’s blood boil.

-

They were back in the drawing room, after dinner as the matchmaker walked in. She introduced herself as a Mrs. Angela Chandler who was a matchmaker working with a group of associate matchmakers. They all shared their contacts and clients to cover the globe for the exclusive matchmaking of the elite.

She had asked for the ‘ideals’ the ladies wanted in the bride for their grand nephew. ‘Beautiful, Rich and Good Heritage’ was an accurate synopsis of their half an hour long conversation. Alfred gave in his input for Damian’s character and preferences (which Damian was secretly thankful for).

And then she turned to him. “So Damian, what are your aspirations for your life, how do you want to live in the future?”

That was something he had not thought of, ever he lived in the present. If the talk with Kent he had at 3 in the night on his twenty fifth birthday while the latter was very much drunk wasn’t counted.

He looked around the room to see expectant faces of the elders waiting for him to answer.

“I” he swallowed once. “I see myself in the future, managing W.E. International and uh having a family if I were to marry.”

“So, do you want to stay in the States or Europe is also an option for you?”

As Damian Wayne, it didn’t really matter to him, where he lived he had a collection of private jets waiting for him for wherever he would want to go. But as a vigilante: Griffin, he was… unsure. The zeta tubes did exist if he wanted to stick to Gotham… but perhaps, like Batwing he could expand the legacy of the Bats overseas.

“He doesn’t mind Europe.” Alfred answered for him. “I do not.” he piped up, realising he took too long thinking and Alfred had to answer for him. “I do not mind moving countries.”

“Oh very well then, I have the perfect match for you!” she smiled a little too wide and handed the ladies a file. Alfred who was conveniently standing behind their seats had a look at it too.

“Oh!” the women cooed appreciating. “How beautiful she is! Such beautiful hair and eyes! And she has her own business! How intelligent she must be! Oh and-” Damian ignored their musings, he would see for himself how she was. Alfred’s pleased expression gave him some comfort.

-

There was an hour to patrol, the guests long gone and he was going to spend 30 minutes of that hour looking through the file that the matchmaker handed him. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a China born french fashion tycoon. She was the daughter of bakers Tom Dupain, a half french-half Italian baker and Sabine Cheng, a Chinese pastry chef. The baker couple had gotten big fifteen years ago and were now owners of one of the biggest bakery chains in Europe.

The girl was not an eyesore, while he hadn’t paid attention to the picture yet preferring to read the file through first, he had taken a glance at it. And by the time he had taken in the reading material properly, it was time to get ready for his vigilante activities.

He had two targets tonight: patrol and his father. Which is why he was sitting on the 3rd gargoyle which was fashioned to bear resemblance to a dog. Or the gargoyle he sat on when he wanted to talk to his father. His father wasn’t spectacularly good at communication so he had to form his own way of conveying things to him.

“Griffon.”

He stood to face the new arrival.

“Batman.”

A cold wind passed causing the few leaves that lay on the ground to rustle by and the capes flow.

“Is there anything you want to say?”

“Tt. The show you allowed to be put up today.”

“It wasn’t a show.”

“Oh sure, it wasn’t a show. And the Earth isn’t round.”

His earpiece interrupted the moment. “Actually, it isn’t. The Earth is ellipsoid. Kinda pear shaped.”

“Drake,” his words were dripping with irritation. “You very well know that it is an expression. Stop. Intruding.” and with that he switched off his comms. He had made an error in his haste, he forgot about the existence of the comms.

“Let’s talk at the base.”

“See you there, Batman.”

-

Now out of uniform, Damian knocked on his father’s study.

“Come in.”

“Father.”

“Damian. Come sit, now tell me, what is wrong with what happened today?”

“Father? What's wrong? You all had the audacity to call a matchmaker, to get me to marry.”

“Damian we did it because we care about you.”

“Care about me?” he sneered. “Father, if you cared you would have asked if I want to marry or not!”

“If you do not want to marry then why did you say you wanted a family back there?”

“I was acting to please your aunts. Is that not considered good behaviour? What else you expect of me?”

“Damian, it is, my son; but…”

“But what father?”

“Damian I want you to be happy. I want you to have a life unlike mine, I-”

“Oh and that aunt Millie of yours? How-”

“She is old minded Damian. She believes in things like the importance of only and only blood relations and superficial class.” A ‘like you used to’ hung in the air, unsaid but not unheard.

“All that aside, I am not marrying anyone.”

“Damian, listen to me this once. Don’t interrupt unless I ask you to speak. Alright?”

“Go on.”

“Damian, I love you and when your aunts approached me with the proposition to hire a matchmaker for you, I was skeptical of it. But the more I thought of it, the more I felt it would be good for you.” he paused to take a deep breath.

“Look Damian, I know you haven't had a great start to your life. You were born and spent your childhood in the League and we both know of the things that happened there. Later on Alfred’s ‘death’ caused you pain and you relinquished the mantle of Robin. You took over the League and reformed them. You had to end your mother to establish order and control and to stop interference.” Unpleasant memories made their way into his mind, but he pushed them away wanting to pay attention to his father’s words.

“And then you came back to Gotham as Griffin. It has been painful for you, I know. Damian, I believe you deserve rest. There has been a lot you went through that we don’t even know about. But what I know is that perhaps a life of peace and calm, a loving wife and maybe a family. A place where you can be happy. You deserve it. I tried Damian, I tried so hard to get myself something like that, but then Talia left me, you all, my sons happened and then Selina, whom I thought would be the one. She left me at the Altar, and I do not blame her. Coming so far after being Batman, such a life cannot be possible for me anymore. It hurts Damian, being so close to it. You are young, right now you may not want to marry, you may think this is all ridiculous and that you are better off alone, I know. I was there, like you once. But trust me Damian, I do not want you to live with the regrets that I have now. I cannot have what I desire anymore, no matter how powerful or rich I may be. I want you to have the luxury I did not.” He looked into his son’s eyes.

“Father, I…” The sincerity with which Bruce spoke to him made him think about his words.

“Damian, please can you just say yes this once? Meet the girl? Will you do it?”

“Father, I…”

“Damian, for me?”

“Okay, I will.”

-

Damian was on his way to the venue for the WHM. Kent had given him a ride from Gotham to Metropolis but he had to go quickly so he dropped him at the Daily Planet, something about a promise to his mother.

He was still thinking of the conversation he had with his father, as he ran from rooftop to rooftop. Mentally going through it, his father was oddly emotional about the whole thing. Was it really so important to him? Was… a family of his own, something someone like him could have? A wife? Children?

And then, he missed a step. He was falling, he would probably break about three bones, but before he could touch the ground, a grappling hook? No. A yoyo held him and gently released him onto the ground.

Only one hero used a yoyo. Ladybug of Paris. He had worked with her once when he was off the grid and taking care of the league, under the alias of the Head Of The Demon. She has also worked with Drake and his father. She was a good hero. Sufficient.

He must have been really into his thoughts because he had not noticed her, at all. He will have to thank her later.

-

After the majorly uneventful meeting, he had been given an off from patrol. He lay on his bed, the photograph of the girl in his hand. He looked at it again.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” he paused. She was a beautiful woman, her big blue doe eyes and her straight black hair looked alluring. However…

“She looks like she will be a fake person, as Grayson calls them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our two protagonists have faced almost similar situations, they found out their families have hired matchmakers for them to get married. They both initially repelled the arrangement and then were made to understand by their parent(s) but the similarities stopped there. I hoped to make a contrast in their situations: Marinette's experience with the whole thing was pleasant and easy, while I tried to make Damian's experience as nightmarish as possible. I also tried to highlight the differences in their lives, like focussing on different things: mainly, their way of life, the way their families interacted and to a lesser extent, importance of different things in the background.
> 
> If you face any confusion or have any question, I will answer them all in the comments.


	3. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noir have a sleepover.

_ “Damian Wayne.” She held the picture up. He was a handsome man, tan skin, black hair and green eyes, dressed sharp. His expression was…  _

_ “He looks like he is grumpy as fuck.” _

-

After pressing the button that locked her car, Marinette checked on the handle once to make sure. While she knows it works, but better safe than sorry. Finally home after a long day at work, she had just made it to the elevator when her phone began to ring. It was Divya.

“Marinette?”

“Hey Divya!” She greeted as she pressed the button on the elevator for her floor.

“How have you been?”

“I’m doing good. How’s being the bride treating you?”

“Oh my god, it's like a dual thing, you know? Sometimes it's fun to be pampered by everyone and sometimes it feels suffocating. I am glad that I can leave the house for now, once the first ceremony is done, I can’t step a foot outside the house until the marriage day!”

“What? Really? Wow! Knowing you, you’re gonna have a problem staying home!”

The doors slid open onto the nineteenth floor and she walked out, toward the door of her apartment.

“Yeah, our marriages are very intensive, there will be so many ceremonies and guests and everything, I'm sure I will be too tired by time I’m free.”

“Oh yeah! I cannot wait to be there, Maman is so excited.”

“She is? That's so cute! Anyway, there's something I heard about you…”

Marinette paused from inserting the keys into the keyhole. She had a feeling that she knew where this was going. “Yeah? What is it?”

“You’re meeting someone for an arranged marriage?”

She sighed. “Yeah… I am. How do you know though?”

“I have my sources… the matchmakers have an Indian contact as well, and gossip about the son of the richest man on Earth travels fast.”

“So you know.”

“So I know. But the most important thing is, are you okay with it?”

“I…” Marinette paused. “I don’t know Div… I didn’t like the idea at first but then, Maman and Papa approve of it and want me to try it, so perhaps it is good? Anyway they aren’t gonna force me to marry someone I don't want to. Besides, I am yet to meet him, so I can’t really say anything.”

“How wise and mature of you, huh Marinette?.” Marinette could hear her friend’s smile. “But if you want me to kick his ass because he was an asshole to you, tell me anytime. I will stop my wedding and do it. No one hurts my Marinette.”

They laughed.

“So how’s your fiance?”

-

Marinette lay on her sofa lazily scrolling through take out options on the food ordering app on her phone as Tikki floated around munching on some cookies. Italian sounded good… 

She was deciding between pizza or lasagna when the doorbell rang.

On the other side of the door stood César award winning actor and model, Adrien Agreste with a bag of what she assumed was food slung over his shoulder.

“What’s in there?”

“Wow, you didn't even let me in before asking that.”

Before Marinette could say anything, Plagg zoomed out of Adrien’s shirt, “Hah, know your worth, Adrien.” and then he flew off to wherever Tikki was.

Marinette smiled sheepishly as she stood aside, letting her best friend enter the house. “I’m really hungry.”

“Lasagna” he said as he set the bag on her dining table. “Do you have my Ladybug PJs here or the plain ones?”

“Ladybug.” She replied as she got a set of plates and forks from her cabinets.

“Aw yeah!”

-

Long after dinner and completing patrol with Tikki and Plagg resting, the duo were on the balcony. Her balcony was a cozy place, with a retractable roof to save her from snow and rain and furnished to look like the balcony she had in her parent’s home. Marinette sprawled on the lounge chair which was placed right next to an electric heater, while Adrien stood at the railing, a wine glass in one hand and his phone in the other. A half empty bottle of wine, a picture and biodata of Damian Wayne lay unattended on the table.

“Yeah, I was right. It's just a PR account. I see nothing personal in it. Just pictures of outings and promotions.” he scrolled more. “But there are a lot of animal shelters here.”

“Twitter is also PR.” Marinette said from her spot. Placing her empty glass near the leg of the chair. “But like you’ve been to Wayne Galas with Gabriel right?”

“Yeah, back then he was super reserved. He did talk to me but only about the Hawkmoth stuff. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him genuinely smile. Wait no! This one time when we were like I dunno 15?” He emptied his glass with a swift swing. “A cat wandered in and he smiled. Yeah and now he just talks to his business associates. You’ve seen it first hand.”

“Yeah, but that was like only the last two years. I didn’t get invited before that.”

Adrien placed his empty glass on the table.

A beat of silence passed.

“Which ice cream do you have?”

“I just ran out a few days ago. Haven’t been grocery shopping since then.”

“Ugh.”

After placing Marinette’s glass beside his, he sat down on the floor, in the space her glass had previously occupied.

“Let’s go out.”

“What?”

“I want ice cream, let's go get some.”

“Adrien it’s like midnight. In winter.”

“No it's 11:58, and you have more than enough winter clothes for it.” He waggled his phone in front of her face with a grin. “I’ll drive.” He offered.

“Fine, get that out of my face.”

-

A green Audi R-8 was parked near the Seine. Marinette and Adrien had dug around on twitter to find out where André was for the night.

They sat at the edge, their legs dangling off it, like the many many times they had when they attended Dupont.

“Vanilla is boring.”

“No it isn't. Vanilla is an amazing non boring flavour that is underrated and under appreciated. YOU are the one who is boring. Adrien.”

“Wrong. Vanilla is boring and it will always be.”

They had finished their ice creams, but sat there enjoying the lights of the Eiffel tower. A scream interrupted their peace.

-

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat atop the Eiffel Tower after stopping a mugging.

“You know, I knew.”

“What?”

“I knew when they called a matchmaker for you.”

“Oh.”

After a moment of silence that felt like forever to Marinette, who was burning with curiosity, Adrien spoke up:

“I was the backup.” He laughed. “They asked me to convince you in case you said no.” he paused.

“I said no.”

He turned to face her, and took her hands in his, “Marinette, if at any point of time you want to put an end to this, tell me. If anyone, anyone at all forces you, or says anything to you which you do not like, tell me. If he turns out to be an asshole and tries something with you, tell me and I will catacly-” he stopped, realising he was in the suit then. “I will end him in a heartbeat.”

His eyes were burning with passion.

“Just don’t take it alone. Please. God knows how much you suffered after Master Fu named you Guardian and until Hawkmoth went down. I don’t want you to go through anything alone anymore. Promise me Marinette, Ladybug. Promise me.”

With tears in her eyes, she tightened her hold on his hands, looked into his eyes to see them tearing up as well. “I promise you Adrien, I will tell you. I will not take on anything alone. We are a team and it will remain that way.”

-

Lunch, the next day was at the Dupain-Cheng house. And the family, of which Adrien had become a part of after the end of Hawkmoth’s reign, sat in the parlor engaged in casual conversation.

“Oh, before I forget Marinette, your father and I bought this couple's watch set for your friend, as a wedding gift. It's okay, right?”

A set of Breguet watches were perched in the box her mother handed her.

“Woah! Mrs Cheng! That’s a great pick, it will go with all kinds of clothes and colours. It's an amazing gift.”

Marinette elbowed her best friend. “She asked me, not you dummy!”

“But we all know I’m better at that kind of stuff~”

“Oh yeah?” Marinette smirked. “Well then Mr Genius, what did you buy for Divya?”

Adrien pulled out his phone and after finding the right picture he showed it to her. “It is a saree, with real gold in it. It’s called Zari work.” He said with a ‘holier than thou’ air. “What about you, huh? Beat that.”

Marinette raised her hands in defeat. “Alright I admit, yours is better. I got her a pendant and earring set.”

And they spent the rest of the evening planning their trip which was now only four days away.

-

“Okay be honest, what gave you the idea to get her that gift?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. “Uh huh.”

“Alright fiiiiine, when Divya called me and told me she was getting married I was very excited about it and then I realised she will be having an Indian wedding and then I wanted to know about it and then I did some research, found some bridal fashion TV shows and… Igotcarriedaway.”

And then Plagg spoke up “You should have seen him Marinette, he was so fascinated by it, he even sa-” he was forced to stop as Adrien shoved cheese into his mouth.

“How many seasons?”

“…”

“I couldn't hear you.”

“All.”

A smack was heard as Marinette face palmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to see what a saree with gold work looks like : https://www.nalli.com/harinarayani-red-kanchipuram-silk-saree
> 
> These type of sarees are generally worn in Southern India by brides on their wedding day. Adrien however saw it and fell in love with it, so he bought it for his friend.
> 
> Hope you like it :)  
> All confusion and questions will be answered in the comments!
> 
> Next Time: Damian's brothers get to know about this "arrangement"


	4. Word Travels Fast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's brothers (and best friend) find out about his 'arrangement'.

_ “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” he paused. She was a beautiful woman, her big blue doe eyes and her straight black hair looked alluring. However… _

_ “She looks like she will be a fake person, as Grayson calls them.” _

_ - _

Damian was resting in his room while talking to his partner and best friend, Jon Kent.

“Woah! So like you’re getting an arranged marriage? Like the olden times? I thought that stuff was dead by now. That’s so cool!”

“TT. I am not getting married, it is simply an agreement for an arrangement for me to meet the girl.”

“Well, okay… but tell me who is she?”

“A French-Chinese fashion designer, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Wait, MDC?”

“Yeah, that's the name of her brand.”

“Oh! Mom follows her on instagram, she loves the dresses she makes.”

“Instagram? She is on it?”

“Yeah and unlike you, it seems like she manages her own account.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m going through her profile right now.”

“I see.” And then Damian pulled out his laptop to do his own research on her.

“You’re looking her up, aren't you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Wait. You didn’t know she has an instagram account!”

“So?”

“AND you're looking her up!”

“Your point is?”

“I- you- you haven't used the Batcomputer?”

“I have been forbidden from doing so. The only reasoning I get is a dumb ‘you want to get to know her normally’. ”

“They were actually able to stop you?”

“Father placed certain… conditions…” Damian said as he had flashbacks of his father warning him to not do it or else he would release some distasteful video clips of him that Drake and Todd had taken over the years.

“Hm. Tough life huh?”

“Yes. Anyhow, did you get the intel you said you could on the case? Or will I have to do it again?”

“That was one time! And guess what smarty pants, I got the intel and more!”

“What do you mean?”

-

Jason Todd was dead, legally.

The man nonchalantly draped over one of the sofas in Wayne Manor, while reading a book and eating cookies was dead, on the papers, to the public.

“I see, Master Todd, you remember where the jar of cookies was from last time.”

“I make it a point to remember essential information.”

“Impressive.” Alfred said, the slight twitch of his moustache gave away his amusement.

“Anyway,” Jason moved himself to replicate the ‘draw me like one of your french girls’ pose “What's the tea?”

Alfred had moved over to one corner of the room, dusting the decorative sculptures there. “Master Damian will be meeting someone, for an arranged marriage.”

“What? For real?” The disbelief was clear on his face. “He actually agreed to do it?”

“Master Bruce was very persuasive.”

“Woah! Bruce convinced him? You mean like blackmail or bribe or-”

“Persuasion. He simply talked to him.”

“Okay what the actual fuck.”

“Mind your language Master Jason.”

“Sorry. But like really? That brat? Marriage? That too, arranged? I can’t believe it.”

“It doesn’t cease being the reality.”

Eyes still wide, his head jerked at a realisation. “And who is the unlucky girl?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“And that is…?”

“A French-Chinese Fashion designer: MDC.”

“Oh her! Yeah! I’ve seen a few advertisements of her.” Now excitement overtook shock. “Okay so tell me how this actually happened.”

“Well, your Great aunts Agatha and Millie were constantly asking Master Bruce about his son’s plans to marry and then they…”

Alfred wouldn’t admit it, but talking to Jason, filling him up on everything, and watching his reactions were some of his favourite things to do.

-

Every other weekend, after a two hour drive from Bludhaven, Dick used to come to the Manor for a sleepover. And usually when he arrived, Bruce was the only one at leisure. So it had become a thing for the two to talk over a cup of tea… or other beverages; it depended on the day. The topics ranged from their nightly duties, day jobs, about their family, themselves and sometimes, things Dick found on the internet that Bruce just HAD to check out.

“Yeah, and that is why I will never do a handstand in a McDonalds when there is mayonnaise in the same room.”

“Hm.” Bruce seemed more engrossed in scraping off a corner of the label of the beer bottle with his nails.

And that was how Dick made it certain that something was up. Generally when he tells Bruce about his adventures, there is more of a reaction. Plus, Bruce totally wasn’t being weird by looking down the whole time.

“Alright, what's going on?”   
“My college friend, Anil Maheshwari, you used to spend time with his son at events, Dhruv Maheshwari. His daughter is getting married. We are all invited.”

“That's it?”

“Damian is meeting a girl for an arranged marriage there.”

-

The door of his room flew open and his eldest brother was standing there. Making no effort to hide his irritation, Damian asked “What the fuck, Richard?”

“You’re getting married?”

“No! What is wrong with everyone? I simply agreed to meet that girl and everyone goes crazy about it! First Jon, then Todd spams me with messages and now you? What’s next, Drake interrupting patrol for this? But oh doesn’t he already do that!”

“Damian now is not the time to drop shade. I want to- I need to talk to you. Right now.”

Grayson was rarely this serious, so Damian promptly set aside whatever he was doing (totally not stalking a french fashion designer for as much information he could get, of course not.)

“What is it that you need to talk about.”

“You said yes?”

“To meet her.”

“Why?”

“Father… suggested it would be a wise choice.”

“What did Bruce tell you?”   
This put Damian into thought. Should he tell him about Father’s regrets or should he dismiss his question by saying it was something private between them? Would his father mind if he told Grayson? In that moment Father seemed so vulnerable and raw, would it be an insult to him if he so casually spilled the contents of their talk to someone else? Or would he be okay with it? Would Grayson be offended if he declined to tell him?

“Damian. Are you still there?”

“Yeah, uh Grayson. Father…” He had to make a decision. Now.

“Father said certain things, I think he and I, would both prefer to remain between us.”

Grayson’s face now showed an emotion he couldn’t read very well.

“Fine.”

Moments of neither of them speaking, which seemed like hours of uncomfortable silence to Damian were finally interrupted by his brother.

“I- Damian. I just want you to not do anything in a hurry. I don’t know what Bruce told you, but none of that is important if you are not sure about it. I know you aren’t one to do things hurriedly or carelessly, but I just need to tell you this.”

Grayson’s blue eyes were clouded with darkness.

“You always take your time to think things through before you take a step, I know. I did too. I never thought I would make such a mistake. You might be thinking so too. It might seem like love, you know, but sometimes; it isn’t meant to be.”

A bitter smile decorated his face.

“It seemed like love. What Kori and I had. I thought we were meant to be. I decided to get married. I was so happy. I had thought about it a million times. Our wedding, family- everything. I had thought we’d have some kids, if it would be a daughter, we’d name her Mar’i, and if a son it would be-”

He stopped abruptly.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter anymore and shouldn’t have mattered so much back then. What matters is, she left me at the altar. And I was broken, I was distraught, I was in pain back then so much of it. But now when I look back at it. I’m so, so, SO thankful Kori did what she did. It was not meant to be. That marriage would have been a mistake. A big one.”

His hands shook very slightly. 

“A mistake I do not want you to make.”

“Richard?” Damian said as he lightly shook his brother from the shoulder. Dick had looked lost for a few minutes.

“Damian,” his head jerked to face him. “A complete life, as they call it: a life partner, children and growing old together… It seems golden and bright. Something you want, something you desire and reach out towards. But before you take it and make it your life, you should remember: All that glitters is not gold.”

His expression was grave, like he had only seen him during a particularly gruelling case.

“Sometimes, something seems so right at the moment, like nothing could go wrong if you had it. It seems perfect. Here’s the thing, Damian. Perfection doesn’t exist. It is an illusion. If anything seems too good to be real, don't keep it. My life was saved from regrets, unhappiness and heartache by a hair. I just don’t want you to fall into it. Damian, marriage is a concept of commitment. Once into it, you cannot escape. It will always remain with you. Even after it doesn't exist.”

He took a deep breath.

“Damian, I know it is too early for me to tell you all this, but I just care for you. I want the best for you. I want you to live without regrets.”

-

It was during patrol that Tim found out. When Jason went up to him and told him very animatedly of the events with the matchmaker, “The poor poor unlucky girl is Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

All Tim said was an “Oh. Unlucky.” and smiled to himself after hearing the girl’s name.

Meanwhile, Steph was losing her shit.

-

Bruce was taking a morning stroll in the garden. He had told Damian about their plans for Udaipur. The boy hadn’t reacted particularly, but he could see that his son was deep in thought. Most probably something Dick had told him.

Dick must have tried to dissuade him from marriage. He doesn’t know how much influence Dick still has on Damian, but he hoped it wouldn’t be much.

He knows Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He knows her very well. He has met her thrice. Two times at Wayne Galas, she was a charming, and pleasant girl.

The third time was in between the two Galas.

When she helped take down a supervillain, with her partner.

As Ladybug.

-

He was in Alaska with Tim, following a case of superpowered and brainwashed villains appearing every now and then in Gotham.

All the leads for the origins of the villains who make rampage without any form of intelligent activity. These villains were hulks with mutated features, just looking at them made most people faint. They showed no human qualities, no communication, no reaction to pain, just mindless destruction.

But with things like super regeneration and superstrength, the extent of destruction these ‘beings’ brought was so immense that other big cases such as the disappearances of a large number of children from the streets of Gotham were put on hold.

After coming to a clearing in the icy forest, the two stopped. To a normal person the surroundings would look like there was only a vast expense of snow there, but equipped with X-ray vision glasses, the two vigilantes could see exactly where an entrance to what they supposed to be the lair was.

They got captured. One upside of this was that they found the missing kids. They were also held captive at the very same place, by the very same person.

Batman and Red Robin watched in horror and helplessness as the villain who called himself Doctor Grey snatched a child from one of the cages, and with the words “Dr. Grey will make your pain go away!” He injected a serum into the child. Immediately the screams of the child filled the cave, as the kid’s skin twisted and tore, bones were breaking and being made simultaneously. Before long, one of the creatures that attacked their city stood in front of then, surrounded by its own blood.

“So you see, Batman. I liberate the children from painful life, and give them some fun before they go. It is a win-win situation! For you, me and these cute little kids!” He inched closer to the vigilante. “The children forget all pain, into sweet sweet sleep. I get test subjects to develop the super serum.” By now his face was directly in front of the captive’s “And you, your city crime rates drop as future criminals are taken off streets, by me! And before he could break into what Tim had dubbed ‘cliche villain post-monologue laugh’ Batman spat in his face.

“This is wrong. And you will be stopped.” His voice was more gruff than usual, due to the cold.

Dr.Grey’s face twisted with fury. He rapidly tapped onto his tablet. And then, Bruce’s enclosure moved and changed into a torture bed with restraints.

His eyes widened in horror, realising where this was going.

Suddenly, Tim broke into a cough, sniffing and sneezing in between. The Doctor laughed at the ‘feeble’ one, already a victim to the cold.

“I’ll let you in a secret, Batman. My serum is almost perfect. I will be able to remove every last drop of humanity, and cause twice the amount of mutations! Even more destruction of this horrid horrid painful world. And who else would be better to try on than you?”

“You won’t be able to.”

“Why?” The doctor cackled. “YOU will stop ME?”   
Unexpectedly, for the villain, Batman smirked. “No, but they will.”

As soon as he said those words, the ceiling disintegrated and new in attendance were Paris’ beloved superhero duo: Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“Doctor Grey! Your time has come to an end, either you give up or we make you!” Ladybug and Chat Noir, a glowing and spinning yoyo and green eyes gleaming with mischief, looked like a beacon of hope and relief to all victims.

The Doctor moved with an unexpected speed and tried to capture them, only to be stopped by-

“CATACLYSM!” multiple times.

In his daze he didn’t notice the yoyo heading for his tablet, which fell out of reach.

After that, the fight was fairly easy, with both the Gothamites out of constraints courtesy of Chat Noir.

The children including the one who had been converted into a monster earlier healed by a Miraculous Ladybug had been loaded into the vigilantes' jet.

For a final thank you and goodbyes, the four masked fighters stood outside the jet, but it was interrupted by Ladybug’s earrings.

Ladybug’s earrings began to rapidly beep and before she could help it, she stood un-transformed in front of her partner, who was trying his best to cover her up and the Bats.

After an extremely long time of use of the Lucky Charm, a portable transmitter, which helped the duo pick up the emergency signals from Red Robin’s suit, who got notified of the heroes, and conveyed it to Bruce by using his coughs and sneezes as morse code.

Batman and Red Robin were made to take magically binding oaths by Ladybug and Chat Noir that made it physically impossible for them to ever reveal her name, in a manner similar to the kwamis. The two said goodbye and thanked Chat Noir and Marinette Dupain-Cheng: fashion designer extraordinaire for their help and left for home.

-

Bruce knows that from all the people Damian could marry, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will be the best for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I hope you liked this chapter :)  
> Since our two miraculous heroes are adults now, they don't have the usual time limits or other restraints. Which means Chat can Cataclysm multiple times and Ladybug can keep a Lucky Charm for long but not too long!  
> Poor Damian, both of his father figures are imposing their past and regrets upon him!
> 
> [P.S: Yes, I sneaked two memes into this. Mwahahaha]
> 
> Next Time: The Dupain-Chengs (+Adrien) leave for the wedding [and another significant thing planned for there;)]


	5. Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guests from Paris are ready for the wedding!

_ The two said goodbye and thanked Chat Noir and Marinette Dupain-Cheng: fashion designer extraordinaire for their help and left for home. _

_ Bruce knows that from all the people Damian could marry, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will be the best for him. _

-

On her bed lay two dresses: One, a red cheongsam fashioned as a dress with a matching cropped jacket that gave it a more formal look. The dress came to her knees and was one of her mother’s favourites. The other, a black dress shirt dress on which she had embroidered her classic flowers in pink.

Almost everything she had to pack had been selected and kept aside to fold and put into her suitcase. Except, the dress she was supposed to wear while meeting Damian Wayne and his family for the first time. She had to make a choice.

She had had plenty of first meetings in her life.

But… What about now? This first meeting was different. She wasn’t going to meet stupid old bitchy men or self righteous haughty women with the purpose of striking a deal. She was going to meet her ‘maybe’ future life partner and his family.

_ Her _ ‘maybe’ future family.

How the hell was someone supposed to go and do that? First dates popped into her mind, but this was still different. On a first date you don’t think ‘Oh ThIs MiGhT bE mY fUtUrE hUsBaNd’ you just meet them, try to have fun and then think about seeing them again, if it actually turns out to be fun.

Meeting a whole family, on top of that Waynes. She didn’t think of herself as less than them, but like there was this intimidating thing about them.

She was confused, nervous, anxious and clueless. Her suitcase was still empty, her clothes weren’t folded, her other stuff wasn’t kept in and the two dresses still lay on her bed. Suddenly, going didn’t seem as exciting as it did earlier.

Everything was still there, waiting to be done, waiting to be chosen and she was just unable to do it.

“MARINETTE!” Tikki floated into her vision. “Hurry up! You’re taking forever choosing between these two dresses!”

“Tikki… I feel so weird.”

“Marinette?” This time, the kwami spoke softly. “What happened?”

“It’s just that it suddenly feels like everything is going too fast. I’m going to meet someone who could be the one I marry. AND his family! It feels super weird. And I just can’t stay- just lie around till this feeling passes. I have so much to do, it all just  _ there _ , waiting to be done. Packing all of this, and then taking it to the car, picking up Adrien, going to Maman’s and then at night, actually going to Udaipur. And I just can’t even get myself to choose between these two dresses.”

“Marinette, just calm down, relax. Take a deep breath and let it out.” Tikki instructed her. “You are not alone in this. If his family is going to be there, so is yours. Maman, Papa, Adrien, Plagg and I. We are here for you. So what if you feel weird right now? We can go for a morning patrol! And then pick Adrien early, he had said he had already packed, he could help you in all this! As for these dresses, pack them both. You can wear both of them sometime or the other. They both represent you.”

She looked at the dresses. Red and black.

“Yes. They do.”

-

Tikki was right. The feeling passed, Adrien helped her a lot, with packing with her and distracting her. And they made it to her parents’ house on time for an early dinner.

Little had she known that the weirdness would soon be forgotten to her as her mother would drill her with what she should do in front of the Waynes, and what she absolutely shouldn’t do in front of the Waynes.

Dinner and time before they reached the airport was all:

“Marinette! Don’t sit like that in Udaipur!”

“Marinette! Don’t eat like that in front of the Waynes!”

“And no snorting while you laugh whatsoever, Marinette. You’re listening?”

And all she could do was say “Yes Maman…” and sigh. Restrictions sucked. But her mother was only worried. Who would want their daughter to make a fool of herself in front of her potential husband and his family?

That’s right. No one. Which is why Marinette took all the instructions without a complaint.

  
  


That is, until she couldn't.

-

“Two hours?” Marinette almost choked on her milkshake.

“Are you serious? Two hours? Maman!”

“Marinette, better be safe than-”

“Sorry, yeah I know.” She knew so well, she was turning into her parents. She already had the habit of checking her car door even though she knows the keys lock it.

“Oh! Don’t give sarcastic replies there!”

“Wha-I”

“And don’t slouch like that!”

All the while they waited for two hours for their flight to begin boarding, it was nothing short of torture for Marinette.

“Keep your shoulders straight darling.”

“If they ask you what your hobbies are, tell them you like to bake and nothing else. You will not mention your video games at all. Okay?”

“And you will not make any pop culture references.”

“If they ask you since when you know Mandarin tell them you know it since birth.”

“And cover your mouth when you laugh.”

“If they ask you what kind of songs you listen to, you will say classical music only. No Jagged Stone.”

“But he literally is an ambassador for my brand Maman!”

“I don’t care!”

-

The flight took off from Paris at seven in the evening and reached Jaipur fifteen hours later, which was around two in the evening there. From Jaipur, they would take a six hour car ride to Udaipur.

Marinette slept as soon as they took off. She had already had dinner and she was sure that if her mother told her off again, she would explode. Not that she hated her mother for doing that, like she got it. She understood her mother meant well, but… she could only take so much.

Anyhow, going to bed at seven has consequences, such as waking up too early. 5 AM. This was her personal best on waking up before an alarm, her mother or Tikki woke her up.

It was too boring just staying there, so she decided to get up and give her legs some time and space to move.

Standing in the slightly open area beyond the seats, she looked out of the window. The sun was about to rise.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

“WAAH! ADRIEN!”

Behind her, Adrien stood grinning and rubbing his neck. “Did I scare you?”

Marinette narrowed her eyes and booped his nose as an answer. Then she turned to the window, eager to not miss out on the scenery unfolding outside.

“Thank you, Marinette.”

“Hmm… I’ve heard that before… Ah yes, on an airplane, watching a sunset with an Adrien Agreste. Original much?”

“Heh.” He smiled. “But I mean it from my heart, as much as I did last time. Perhaps even more.”

Marinette looked at the man beside her, he was looking at the sunrise, with a distant look in them and a small smile on his face. A sad smile.

“I truly never thought I would be happy someday, after we found out fath-Gabriel was Hawkmoth. I thought it would be impossible. But you believed in me. You always want to take a chance on something or someone, even when no one else is.” He turned to her, the golden rays of the sunrise making the scene familiar. “You’ve got something, Marinette.”

She touched her hair on instinct.

“No silly,” her best friend smiled. “Something about you.”

Fourteen year old Marinette would have died and gone to heaven.

“Marinette, you never gave up on me after what happened. Even when I refused to talk, and even see you. When we finally defeated Hawkmoth and he turned out to be fa-Gabriel, I had thought that all my hopes and dreams of ever being happy were gone. Forever.” His voice got weaker.

“And then before I could even- even say something to him, anything! He just jumped off, he just messed up my life and went away. Far away. Bugginette, I had thought I had lost everything then. My mother, the man I once called father, any semblance to a happy life and I thought I’d lost you as well. Who would want to be with the son of a monster?”

“Adrien…”

“But you never gave up. You believed in me. You gave me strength to fight. You made me who I am today. When I say will I kill or die for you, I mean it.”

He cupped her face with his hands.

“Marinette,” His face radiated unconditional love. “No matter what, this cat is always by your side. Thank you. For believing. For hoping. For trying. For being. Thank you.”

“I love you too, Adrien.”

-

By the time they landed in Jaipur, all the emotions running high had calmed down. After a breakfast of local treats called ‘kachori’ with an over excited Adrien, the four of them got into the car that had been booked for them. And left the Pink City.

While they were in Jaipur, Marinette and Adrien were mesmerised by the architecture and the aesthetic of the city. The fort, the palace, the monkeys, the vendors, the cows, the houses and how each and every fence was a wall which was painted pink with a white design.

All through the route, which was mostly surrounded by fields or barren lands, whenever a little tea stall would pop up beside the road, Adrien would ask the driver to stop. They all got to stretch their legs and Adrien had one chai (which was served in cute earthen cups) at each and every stop.

By the time they reached it was 10:30, and her parents had slept off any amount of jetlag they would have had. Which is why she was the only one tired, her parents refreshed from their naps and Adrien was running on all the chai he had had and excitement.

“Marinette!” Divya ran to her and immediately engulfed her in a hug. “You’re finally here!”

“I’m finally here.”

She was here.

Finally here.

Damian Wayne better watch out, because Marinette Dupain-Cheng wasn’t bothered anymore. She had her best friend, her parents, and a bunch of gods with her.

Oh and Divya too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to the meeting!  
> A lot going on for Marinette, but she's finally there.
> 
> About the fence thing, they are one of my favourite "little things" about Jaipur, whenever I'm there going home from the airport or station it gives me the feeling of arriving and I feel really happy!  
> I couldn't find a good picture of them, cause no one puts up pictures of boundaries? They're pinkish-brown. But here is one that shows a little bit, if you wanna see them:  
> https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/msid-63767488,width-1070,height-580,imgsize-1313862,resizemode-75,overlay-toi_sw,pt-32,y_pad-40/photo.jpg  
> [ instead of such rods, its just the little walls everywhere ]
> 
> Next Time: The Waynes(+Alfred and a bodyguard) leave for Udaipur.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to express all your queries and confusion (if any) in the comments and they will be answered.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
